Vol-16-No-3.Pdf
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EDITORIAL The Society owes an apology to many of its members. Over the past year, a large number of Journals have failed to reach their destination, or have been delivered very late, to the understandable annoyance of the supposed recipients. This has caused a great deal of "hassle" and correspondence, especially with our overseas members, who ?R, r~.`rP h~P.T2.t~2p '72r3212.°3 .fPJRiS. ;'1 . ~ f ,•u~'tr ,`ueetl -rtlutrifrre$, ana'tne prdtilem should not recurAf you are a fully paid-up member, and have not received one or more Journals over the past year,please write to Mr R. Hale. 'Reading Road, South Shields NE334SF, stating which issue is missing. He would also like to know of any future instances of late or non arrival of the Journal. We are very sorry indeed about the failures, which have created serious administrative and financial difficulties for the Society. Each year since the Society was formed, an index to the Journals has been prepared by Mr Dave Linley of Preston, Lancashire. This is a necessary and invaluable work in a Society such as this. Mr Linley has now decided he has done a long enough stint. I can fully appreciate his feelings. Working unseen from a town away from the Society's heartland, Dave deserves all our thanks for his splendid efforts. But we now need a replacement! Here is a chance for non local members to help the Society. If anyone would like to take on the task of indexing from Volume 16, I would be glad to hear from them. The only requirements are a typewriter or word processor, plus the inexhaustible patience needed to compile an index to names, places etc in the four Journals each year. Members will note that the popular "Members Interests" and "Second Time Around" features have now been merged, as their continuing separate existence did not seem to serve any real purpose. You can of course have your queries published as many times as you want, free of charge, but please keep them reasonably brief and specific. Send to Phil Thirkell, 100 Stuart Court, Kenton Bank Foot, Newcastle NE3 2SG and NOT to me! NOTES & NEWS The Society is running a one-day conference, in conjunction with the Society of Genealogists, at Gosforth High School, Great North Road, Newcastle on Saturday, 16th November from 9.15 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. The topic is "Computers in Family History". There will be speakers and an exhibition of computer hardware and software. Cost is £ 12, including lunch. Contact Mrs M Furness, 8 Shadfen Park Road, Marden Farm, North Shields, Tyne & Wear NE30 3JD. Other conferences and day schools are:- 19 October 1991. Cleveland FHS is hosting a North East Family History conference at the Arts Centre, Vane Terrace, Darlington. Details from Mrs C.A. Lee, 3 The Green, Kirklevington, Yarm, Cleveland TS15 9NW. 2 November 1991. Durham County Local History Society and the WEA one day school at 32 Old Elvet, Durham 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. "It counted because they counted - the 1851 and other 19th century censuses." Five speakers will talk on the Process of Enumeration; An Urban Area - Sunderland; Colliery Villages; Durham City; Agricultural Villages. Cost £7 - Cheques (payable to WEA) with name, address and phone number to Mr D. Wilcock, 26 Bede Terrace, Bowburn, Durham DH6 5DT. 7 March 1992. London Group of NDFHS. "A North East Miscellany". Programme includes A Most Melancholy Accident (G. Nicholson); The Northumbrian Jacobites (Dr Leo Gooch); Not a Drum was Heard (N. Welch); Grey Owl and his relations (Marjorie Moore). Entry by prior booking only; early booking advised - closing date 1st February. SAE to Mrs W Bennett, 16 Grayshott Laurels, Lindford, Bordon, Hants GU35 OQB for application form. Felton and Swarland Local History Society has published "A Record of the Monumental Inscriptions of the Felton District of Northumberland" covering Felton churchyard, the village cemetery, Eshott Methodist Chapel, the Catholic Church and War Memorials in Felton, Eshott and Thirston. Obtain from Mrs H. Charlton, 35 Main Street, Felton, Morpeth, Northumberland NE65 9PP. Cost £2.50 plus postage (70p in UK, £1.70 in Europe, £1.06 Surface Mail North America & Australasia or £2.77 Air Mail). The Silksworth Heritage Group has published an index to the 1881 Census of the Silksworth and Tunstall areas of Sunderland. Cost £3 from Mrs D. McKeown, 38 Somerset Cottages, Silksworth, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear SR3 1BX. Would members who wish to borrow the Journals of other Family History Societies please note they should contact Mrs K Willans, 9 The Ridgeway, Kenton, Newcastle NE3 4LP and not Mrs D. Tait, the Society's Librarian. CHANGES IN THE NORTHUMBERLAND RECORD OFFICE Major changes in Search Room procedures will come into effect on Monday 22 July 1991. The number of staff in the Search Room will be reduced from TWO to ONE. This does not, however, mean a reduction in the level of service, simply that staffing will be organised in a different way to make the best use of office resouces. Briefly, the Search Room will be manned by a Senior Records Assistant who will give advice on what sources to consult and how to use the lists, calendars, indexes and other finding aids. Where necessary, more complex and detailed enquiries will be referred to the Duty Archivist. Production of records, other than Ordnance Survey maps and wills will be carried out by staff not based in the Search Room. Since these staff have other duties, there may occasionally be some delay but every effort will be made to keep this to a minimum. Xerox photocopying orders will be carried out between 2 pm. and 3pm. every afternoon. Therefore morning orders should be ready for collection at Reception after 3 pm. Photocopies ordered after 3 pm. will not be ready until the following afternoon. Where possible searchers are asked to telephone in advance of their visits if they require detailed or specialist advice from the Duty Archivist. It would be helpful if all searchers wishing to use original records could telephone in advance. It is hoped that searchers will benefit from these changes as professional staff should be able to spend additional time on cataloguing, thus making more records available for research. All users of microfilm records must continue to book a microfilm reader in advance of their visit. FROM THE. TREASURER It is subscription time again, and like most things these days, the cost has gone up! Details are given under the heading "Membership Renewals". Please help by following the instructions carefully and renewing early! Our current membership is approximately 2000 and to fund our activities for the forthcoming year, we need to generate about £20,000 from subscriptions. It is therefore appropriate to increase subs to £ 10, the first increase for some years. Overseas members cost approximately £4 each in extra postage costs, so the overseas sub is set at £ 14, if paid in sterling. However, many overseas members pay in their own currency and there are substantial costs incurred in conversion, so separate rates have been quoted for overseas members paying in their own currencies. Some members have queried the need for the joining/late renewal fee which was introduced last year. There were two reasons for this. Many people j oin the Society for a year and then let their membership lapse. This involves considerable work in setting up the mailing list and updating it. In addition, when a member joins, he or she is entitled to all the Journals published in that year. We incur much higher costs in sending out single copies of the Journal than in sending them out en bloc via a mailing house. The joining fee is intended to cover these costs. Membership fees are due on 1st November. If they are paid by this date, we have 2 months to process the renewals and produce the mailing list for the Spring Journal. Members who renew after 31 December cause a huge amount of work as the mailing list has to be amended again, if there is time. If the renewal comes too late for the mailing list to be amended, copies of the Spring Journal have to be sent out individually, causing extra work and extra cost. The late renewal fee is primarily intended to encourage members to renew on time to avoid this extra work and cost. So please help! LETTER TO THE EDITOR Mr John R Purvis of Gilmerton, St Andrews, Fife KY 16 8NB writes "I enjoyed the emigrant's letter on page 35 of the Summer 1991 Journal. I have found Lloyds of London a superb source of information on anything to do with ships. They will almost certainly have a list of ships which departed Liverpool on 4th June 1852 and another of those reported as arriving at Port Philip Heads 7th September and Melbourne 10th September 1852. By elimination it should be possible to identify the ship concerned. Lloyds may have passenger lists also but they are certainly available somewhere in Australia. One of my correspondents got hold of such when I was doing research on relations who went to Australia about the same time as your emigrant." MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS Subscriptions for 1991/92 are due for payment on or before 1 November 1991. Failure to renew your subscription by 31 December 1991 will result in your having to pay an additional 50% rejoining fee. UK SUBSCRIPTIONS 1991/92 UK personal member (including institutions in the Northumberland and Durham area and personal members in the EEC and BFPO) ............,......,.....,.......„„„„„„„„„„„„,.....,...,.. 10.00 Overseas personal member ...............................................................................................